Eric Michael Garcia
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ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Eric Michael Garcia
@ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Washington Bureau chief at The Independent, MSNBC Columnist. Author: We’re Not Broken. Tar Heel. He/Him Eric.garcia@the-independent.com
Pinned
When I asked Speaker Mike Johnson about Trump holding a Mar-a-Lago Gatsby-themed party he said "I reject the premise of the question" and said "The president had an annual Halloween league party every year at Mar a Lago. That's what he went back to, his obligatory tradition."
Kind of amazing how as Chuck Schumer’s stock has dropped because Democratic voters see him as rolling over to Trump, Kathy Hochul’s stock has shot up for aggressively opposing Trump (and endorsing Zohran Mamdani).
November 11, 2025 at 4:10 AM
A press release from NRSC defends Collins saying "Susan Collins always fights for Mainers" and says "Mainers trust Susan Collins to keep doing what she always has and put their needs first, while Democrats like Janet Mills and Graham Platner support refusing to fund critical benefits and services"
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Breaking: The Senate votes 60-40 to reopen the government despite after the longest government shutdown in history. The legislation now goes to the House.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Senate votes to reopen the government as health care future remains uncertain
Republicans are split about whether to vote to extend enhanced tax credits for the health care marketplace while Democrats do not trust Republicans to follow through
www.independent.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Kaine says he thinks Johnson will have no choice but to take up the subsidies if it passes through the Senate. "And if it comes out of here bipartisan, he cannot not take it up without having November 2026 make November 2025 look like a picnic."
November 11, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Gillibrand says she is not doing interviews when I asked if she had spoken with Zohran Mamdani since his victory.
November 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Senate vibe check:

Maggie Hassan and Lisa Murkowski seemed deep in conversation.

Dick Durbin and King, who voted to proceed, chatted.

Meanwhile, a bro gang of Padilla, Gallego, Andy Kim and Michael Bennet chatted.
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
ICYMI: Robert Kennedy Jr. claimed that he had nothing to do with Children’s Health Defense during his confirmation hearings.

His wife just headlined the group’s annual conference.

www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-sa...
Kennedy Said He Was Done With Children’s Health Defense; His Wife Headlined Its Annual Conference
Actress Cheryl Hines spoke at the anti-vax star-studded affair this weekend.
www.importantcontext.news
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Water, fire, air and dirt ....
Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
November 10, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
Anti-Vax Facebook Groups Ushered in Our Current MAHA Nightmare  talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/anti-...
Anti-Vax Facebook Groups Ushered in Our Current MAHA Nightmare
In 2007, Oprah Winfrey featured Jenny McCarthy, the former Playboy model turned...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
"Punishing links shrunk all of that down, putting the world on display for free, but encouraging people who could cadge or copy the most salacious stories." hell of a @daveweigel.bsky.social piece talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider
We don’t know the minute when X started throttling links to news,...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Email from @aoc.bsky.social fundraising off Senate Democrats' cave on the shutdown. Says "the interesting part is that when you are an anti-government party, and win an election, you become the government — and you don’t know what to do."
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
Example 5,000,000,007 of why isn’t the press covering this thing (that is on the front page of one of America’s most-read news sites)
November 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Sen. Shaheen on her daughter opposing the deal that she brokered: "My daughter's very independent. That's why she's going to be such a great Congresswoman. And she knows a lot about the health care system, because she's been working in it for over 20 years." #NHpolitics #NH02
Improving health care has been the cause of my life. It’s why I am running for congress. So I cannot support this deal when Speaker Johnson refuses to even allow a vote to extend health care tax credits. My statement:
November 10, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
News coverage of this has focused on the pardon of those involved in the fake electors plot.

But the pardon also extends to key figures who participated in the unauthorized breach of voting systems in Coffee County, Georgia

My reporting on the breach: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what...
November 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
Whoa -- Sen. Durbin went to up Leader Thune during the vote last night to tell him that on the shutdown vote and ACA promise that "8 of us are sticking our neck out that you're going to keep your word. I hope you will. He said 'I assure you I will,'" Durbin says just now
November 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
When I tried to ask Sen. Kennedy about health care he said “I don’t have anything for you.” Funny how he doesn’t have any folksy Foghorn Leghorn colloquialisms when he actually has to be a responsible governing adult.
November 10, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Cassidy seems to be the one leading negotiations on health care
November 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Collins says “I do have the talking stick handy” for any gang negotiations
November 10, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Trying to do back of the envelope math on who might be the Republicans who vote on extending subsidies. Democrats need 13 votes.

Likely yes:
Collins
Murkowski
Tillis
Rounds

Maybe:
Capito
Cassidy
Hawley
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
LMAO Jay Jones is now at 53 percent in Virginia.
November 10, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia
The UN says October saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in nearly 20 years of tracking that violence. More than half the attacks targeted olive harvesters. n.pr/3LT0ecL
The struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest
The UN says October saw the highest number of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in nearly 20 years of tracking that violence. More than half the attacks targeted olive harvesters.
n.pr
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Trump says any money leftover from the tariff stimulus checks "will be used to SUBSTANTIALLY PAY DOWN NATIONAL DEBT."

He really is speedrunning Biden 2021
November 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Trump goes after Air Traffic Controllers and says they "must get back to work, NOW!!!" Says "Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially 'docked'" and promises he will recommend a $10,000 bonus for any air traffic controllers who didn't take any time off during the shutdown.
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Trump take Pasta
Trump trade war costs US Italian pasta: “Exporters say import and antidumping duties totaling 107% on their pasta brands will make doing business in America too costly and are preparing to pull out of U.S. stores as soon as January.” Via WSJ
Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves — The Wall Street Journal
Trump administration is set to impose duties of 107% on Italian pasta imports, among most punitive of tariffs it has levied
apple.news
November 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
A study in the British Medical Journal surveyed nine reviews that purported to show links between acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism/ADHD. It found "Existing evidence does not clearly link maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring."
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Maternal paracetamol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring: umbrella review of systematic reviews
Objective To assess the quality, biases, and validity of evidence on maternal paracetamol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (referred to as autism) and atte...
www.bmj.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM